It was 10:54 a.m. today — more than two hours before the Lions played the Bears at Ford Field, and Calvin Johnson was one of the few players on the field, warming up.

He walked to the sideline and started footwork drills, hoping over a series of bars spread across the ground like a ladder. Hop — right into the box. Hop — right into the box.

Johnson was basically alone, in an empty stadium, working with focus and determination, wearing black sweats and a grey shirt. This is where it starts, with a fierce, passionate, single-minded dedication and work ethic.

Which is one of the reasons Johnson set the NFL record with 1,892 receiving yards in just 15 games.

Johnson ended the ladder work and wiped sweat from his face. He put on gloves, and if on cue, the stadium came to life. Music started to blare, an old ’70s tune.

They looked like kids on a playground, playing catch about five yards apart. Nothing serious.

Then, they started their official warm-up routine. Johnson lined up at the 40. He sprinted five yards, stopped, came back and Stafford fired a pass. Perfect. Johnson ran through a series of patterns — a slant, a 10-yard comeback, a 15-yard sideline and a fly route.

Some of the other receivers ran the same routes but dropped a few balls. Johnson didn’t drop anything. Stafford and Johnson were totally in sync. Stafford hit him perfectly in stride, and it was a thing of beauty.

This is another reason Johnson broke the NFL record. Because he has a connection with Stafford that has been created from countless throws you never see.

Trying to stay loose

Johnson walked the end zone and laid on his back with both arms spread out. Ted Rath, the Lions’ assistant strength and conditioning coach, stretched Johnson’s legs. Johnson has incredible flexibility, like a ballerina. Rath stretched Megatron’s right leg, pushing it over his shoulder, over his head, contorting him like a pretzel.

Rath has an amazing job when you think about it. He’s like the guy who tuned Beethoven’s piano. The guy who mixed the paint for Picasso.

He is the guy who warms up Megatron. This is why Johnson is so great. He takes care of his body. You don’t hear about him getting speeding tickets or getting arrested for drunken driving or doing anything stupid, like some of his other teammates. Calvin Johnson is first class.

A mark too far

The game started, and there was only one real question: Would Johnson break the 2,000-yard barrier? He needed 108.

On the Lions’ second possession, Stafford hit Johnson for 18 yards, and it looked identical to one of the routes Johnson ran in warm-ups. Two plays later, Stafford was flushed from the pocket and threw to Johnson’s left. Megatron dived and snagged it for five more and a first down. It was pure improvisation.

And suddenly, just 85 yards from 2,000, something changed. The connection between Stafford and Johnson became unplugged. Stafford threw a short pass to Johnson. Incomplete. He threw deep. Over his head. He threw another one deep. Over his head. He threw short. Incomplete.

It was as if Stafford was trying to force the record. “No,” Stafford would say later. “If he got one-on-one coverage, I was trying to throw him the ball.”

They kept trying and kept failing — some looked like horrible throws, a few looked like drops — and the Bears took a 20-10 halftime lead.

But the connection came back in the third quarter.

Stafford hit Johnson for 18 yards and then for 24 more — every yard extending record, inching toward that mythical mark.

Some have criticized Johnson’s record, saying he wracked up empty yards in garbage time. But none of these yards was empty. The Lions were fighting like crazy to come back. Every catch meant something. Every stinkin’ yard.

With about 4 1/2 minutes left, Johnson came flying across the middle, and Stafford threw it behind him, in his exhaust fumes, and that’s the last pass Johnson would see in 2012.

As the clock ticked down, with the Bears running out the clock in a 26-24 victory, Johnson stood on the sideline, holding his helmet — 36 yards short of 2,000.

But he didn’t sound disappointed. “It’s a helluva feat to get where we got to,” Johnson said in the locker room.

He vowed to get better during the off-season, to study film and to concentrate more. “I had some drops this year,” Johnson said. “Have to get rid of those.”

And that’s the greatest thing about the greatest receiver in football. He is never satisfied.